What is the Difference Between Replicative Transposition and Cut and Paste Transposition

The key difference between replicative transposition and cut and paste transposition is that in replicative transposition, the transposon is copied to a new location, while in cut and paste transposition, the transposon is moved to a new location.

Transposable elements or jumping genes are DNA sequences that can change their position within the genome. This is referred to as transposition. Transposition sometimes can create or reverse mutations, and alter the cell’s genetic identity and genome size. Transposition was discovered by Barbara McClintock in 1983. Transposition can take place through two techniques as duplication and cut and paste.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Replicative Transposition  
3. What is Cut and Paste Transposition
4. Similarities – Replicative Transposition and Cut and Paste Transposition
5. Replicative Transposition vs Cut and Paste Transposition in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Replicative Transposition vs Cut and Paste Transposition

What is Replicative Transposition?

Replicative transposition is a type of transposition mechanism that helps transposon excision from the native location to another through replicated or duplicated technique. This mechanism was first found by James A Shapiro in 1979. In this mechanism, the transposable element is duplicated during the transposition reaction so that the transposing entity is a copy of the original element. Moreover, in this mechanism, the donor and receptor DNA sequences form a characteristic intermediate “theta” configuration called Shapiro intermediate (cointegrate). Replicative transposition is a characteristic retrotransposon. This mechanism normally occurs in class I transposons.

A good example of replicative transposition can be observed in E. coli TN3 transposon. TN3 transposon can move from the original plasmid to another target plasmid through replicated or duplicated technique. This entire event is mediated by two important enzymes called transposase and resolvase. Furthermore, replicative transposition can be observed in both DNA transposons and retroposons. The best-studied transposable bacterial virus is the bacteriophage Mu.

What is Cut and Paste Transposition?

Cut and paste transposition is a type of transposition mechanism that helps transposon excision from the native location to another through the cut and paste technique. This mechanism is also known as the conservative model of transposition. In this non-replicative transposition, the excision and integration of a transposon from one genomic location to another take place without leaving a copy behind.

In this mechanism, the transposase enzyme first binds to the terminal repeats that are usually present on both ends of the transposons and it then forms a structure called synaptic complex (transpososome). The synaptic complex cleaves the transposon from its original genomic location and integrates it into the new target location. After that, transposases leave from both ends of the transposon. Once the transposase enzyme leaves the transposon, the gaps are filled by the host polymerase enzyme. This allows the complete joining of the transposon to the new genomic location. This mechanism normally occurs in class II transposons. Furthermore, TN5 bacterial transposons are a well-known example that shows a conservative or cut and paste transposition mechanism.

What are the Similarities Between Replicative Transposition and Cut and Paste Transposition?

• Replicative transposition and cut and paste transposition are two types of transposition mechanisms.
• In both mechanisms, the transposable elements move from one genomic location to another new genomic location.
• Both mechanisms can create or reverse mutations and alter the cell’s genetic identity.
• Bacterial transposons show both mechanisms.
• They are extremely important events for evolution.

What is the Difference Between Replicative Transposition and Cut and Paste Transposition?

Replicative transposition is a type of transposition mechanism where the transposon is copied to a new location, while cut and paste transposition is a type of transposition mechanism where the transposon is moved to a new location. Thus, this is the key difference between replicative transposition and cut and paste transposition. Furthermore, replicative transposition normally occurs in class I transposons, while cut and paste transposition normally occurs in class II transposons.

The below infographic presents the differences between replicative transposition and cut and paste transposition in tabular form for side by side comparison.

Summary – Replicative Transposition vs Cut and Paste Transposition

Replicative transposition and cut and paste transposition are two types of transposition mechanisms. Replicative transposition is a type of transposition mechanism where the transposon is copied to a new location, while cut and paste transposition is a type of transposition mechanism where the transposon is moved to a new location. So, this summarizes the difference between replicative transposition and cut and paste transposition.

Reference:

1. “Replicative Transposition.” An Overview | ScienceDirect Topics.
2. “Non-Replicative (Cut and Paste) Mechanism of Transposition.” Genetic Education.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Tn3 transposon replicative integration diagram” By Famedog – Own work (CC0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Cut and Paste mechanism of transposition” By Alana Gyemi (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia